MAHENDRA. 239 



and pure Ooriyah on the other. Observ- 

 ing the flushed cheeks and bedewed 

 brows of his companions, the Raja 

 courteously handed to them the pink 

 check handkerchief to which he had 

 himself been beholden. Put to the proof 

 thus suddenly, they dealt with the 

 kindly meant offer, gratefully of course, 

 but differently, according to the presence 

 of mind they respectively possessed, 

 which in one case was great, and in the 

 other very small ! 



That night several heavy showers fell, 

 and, though we were sheltered from the 

 rain, its effects reached us in an odd 

 way. "We had pitched the tent on a 

 rocky slope, quite at the bottom of the 

 upper ridge; and though no water en- 

 tered from outside, there rose from a 



